Nevada AG, Others Protest Random Cellphone Charges

at the 2013 International CES at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 9, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs through January 11 and is expected to feature 3,100 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to about 150,000 attendees.

Photo by David Becker/Getty Images

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada’s top prosecutor is joining her counterparts in more than three dozen other states and territories to protest random charges on consumers’ cellphone bills.

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto signed on to a letter sent this week to the Federal Trade Commission that focuses on so-called “cramming.”

The practice involves third party charges being added to consumers’ bills without their authorization. The charges typically range from $9.95 to $24.95 per month and are chalked up to goods and services that consumers never requested.

Masto says clients often don’t realize the charges have been added, and struggle to get a refund.

The letter raises the concern that there aren’t enough protections in place to prevent the scams or empower customers to fight the charges.